Cast recordings in lobby

[#1CarrieFan]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 3:25pm

Am I losing my mind totally, or do I recall (in my younger days) that when I would arrive at a Broadway theater for a musical, the original cast recording would be available for sale even if the show had just opened? For instance, this season you could pre-order Honeymoon in Vegas and it was virtually available for sale as customers would come right into the theater. Don't shows lose a massive amount of sales if their CD is not available for those patrons streaming through the lobby??

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 3:49pm

Since it costs a ton to do one and since changes are made prior to opening, many opt to do it later. Add to that, shows now close quicker than normal so those who are financing it want to make sure there is an audience for it.

In addition, the cost for one in the lobby is much higher than you could get it on Amazon. When Virgin was still around, I steered people there. With Virgin now gone (along with Tower & Footlight) and cd's ebbing in popularity. Amazon is one of the places to get them.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 3:50pm

A recording is also expensive to produce. For newer shows who may still use previews to tinker with the finished product, a recording made before the Broadway opening also will be a poor reflection of the show that they hope many will see in a long and profitable run. And while most shows don't go unrecorded these days, it's still an investment you usually want to make at a targeted moment: as soon as the material is set but before interest in the show possibly wanes and it closes or the recording fails to sell well.

HONEYMOON ran in Paper Mill and felt confident enough in their material to record it before they opened at the Nederlander. Likewise, a number of shows that have transferred from the off-Broadway (most notably from the Public which has a good track record of making cast recordings even for more niche musicals) have had their recordings ready when they opened on the Great White Way. FUN HOME already recorded last year and HAMILTON will be recording over the summer before they re-open.

Revivals aren't recorded as often, because the same economics apply in addition to the factor of differentiating your recording from the previous one(s). Roundabout announced a new ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY recording almost immediately after their rave reviews focused on Chenoweth. So, recording her seems to be more than enough justification to record. But the new CABARET revival had much less to distinguish itself from the previous recording, so no new one was made.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 3:53pm

I've been to a few shows early on in previews where they didn't have cast albums to sell or even announcements made so they could take reservations, but where they were offering to sign patrons up to be contacted if/when a recording was announced. That often can be a way to gauge the interest from your audience before a decision is made.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 4:04pm

Exactly . Good point

[VotePeron]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 4:17pm

Side Show, Finding Neverland, King and I, are just a few of this season's shows that are offering pre-orders in lobby. Smart.

I also had heard a while ago that a Michelle Williams Cabaret recording was planned, if she had gotten nominated.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 6:03pm

Once the decision/financing to record is in place, then they take pre-orders.

[JamesBroadwayWiner]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 6:28pm

I would think that most people would get the album on itunes rather than buying a physical copy

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 6:52pm

^^ I don't know about cast recordings specifically, but if we're talking music industry in general you may be surprised to learn that digital sales still lag behind physical ones.

In their 2014 report, Nielsen SoundScan counted 140.8m CD sales (and 9.2m Vinyl!) versus 106.5m digital albums sold.

In general, both digital and physical sales are losing ground to streaming right now. Digital and physical both are trending down about 10-15% annually and streaming is growing at a 50% annual rate.

Just thought I'd add some numbers to that thought.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:00pm

With Amazon, many albums you buy are autorip and that means it is automatically downloaded to your kindle when you buy it. I have Honeymoon CD & on my device. I would rather have a physical copy that I can copy to whatever I want than just digital. Mrs R feels the same way

Updated On: 3/29/15 at 07:00 PM

[Fantod]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:05pm

jnb, I wonder if the numbers for theatre albums would differ. While you can walk into any Target and buy the newest number 1 hit album very easily, theatre albums are getting more and more difficult to find. Even my local record store has a quickly depleting section for cast albums, and the selections are much closer to Glee and the newest movie musical or The Book of Mormon and Wicked than, say The Fortress of Solitude. Also, due to the vast selection of cast albums, I usually use Spotify for the majority of the albums I listen to, and I only buy a physical copy when it's from a record label like Broadway Records or Jay that doesn't list their titles on Spotify.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:31pm

Yeah I think that the general numbers are a huge tent, and useful for talking about industry-wide trends like "most people would get the album on iTunes rather than buying a physical copy", whereas a niche genre like ours has it's own trends for sure.

And while I absolutely agree about big-box stores that stock records (or, depressingly less and less, actual record stores), consider that in many of the threads that deal with cast recordings on these boards you find people talking about their pre-orders from Ghostlight or PS Classics and rejoicing when their copies arrive.

I personally use Spotify mostly, and purchase albums I want to take around with my in my iTunes library. But Spotify users are still a minority among listeners, and the theatre crowd is generally much older than the average streamer.

Lots of interesting crosswinds in the variables here.

[Fantod]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 7:40pm

I wonder if there is any actual data on cast recording sales. It would be hard to catalogue because what do you classify as a cast recording and what do you classify as soundtrack. It's easy for collectors to say the difference, but they tend to have similar markets so the question becomes if you should catalogue them together or separately. Either way, I would be interested in seeing how the data differs from the overall.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/29/15 at 9:17pm

"Revivals aren't recorded as often, because the same economics apply in addition to the factor of differentiating your recording from the previous one(s)."

Still upset about them not recording the revival cast of The Apple Tree. The original recording is alright but I think it would have been worth it.

I would prefer to have a copy of the album I can hold in my hand after having iTunes crash on me so many times I pretty much stay on Spotify exclusively at this point. It's just not practical for me to get CD's with my small New York apartment. I barely have room for all my books. I will get an album if I can't find it digitally or if it costs about the same. I most recently got the albums for Heathers and Violet.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 11:32am

Due to the high asking price of original cast recordings in the lobby, I've always waited to purchase them through Amazon or eBay. The only time I have was the Betty Buckley mini CD of her songs from SUNSET BLVD which was only sold in the theatre. Lobby cast recording trivia: When Sandy Duncan was appearing in PETER PAN they tried selling the Mary Martin version in the lobby. That is until Duncan found out and had it immediately removed from the display case. I don't blame her. It's really a shame Duncan's performance was never recorded.

As far as OBC recordings being available as soon as the show opened in NY, I recall the original cast recording of OLIVER was released while the show was on tour long before it opened on Broadway. I'm sure there are many more examples but none come to mind right now other than those shows that first premiered in London and were recorded there and then transferred here.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 5:11pm

Wasn't Kiss Of The Spiderwoman " done in London first and the Original Broadway cast was the one from London?

I am wondering if this was the same deal with the Stop The World & The Roar Of The Greasepaint?

[Demitri2]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 10:22pm

I'd forgotten all about ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT - THE SMELL OF THE CROWD Mr. Roxy. I believe Norman Wisdom had the Cocky role in ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT before it came to Broadway. Though it flopped in England with Wisdom, producer David Merrick engaged Newley to star in the show in which he had both co-written the music and book and directed. After STOP THE WORLD's success, Merrick had enough faith in Newley to have RCA record and release the show's cast album before it opened in NY. I even have a RCA released male vocalist LP of Newley singing the entire score by himself with a full orchestra. Of the two I much prefer ROAR's score to STOP THE WORLD.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/30/15 at 11:45pm

VintageSnaker, I think about them recording The Apple Tree so much. The original is a fantastic recording, but the score is so good I want another recording of it. Maybe someday they'll get Kristin Chenoweth and the guys from that revival in the studio to do a recording.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 12:09am

At this late date, not a chance

Updated On: 3/31/15 at 12:09 AM

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 12:10am

Don't rain on my parade, Mr. Roxy! I'll never lose hope.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 8:20pm

It's OK, gypsy101. You can sit over here next to me. I will probably never let this die.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 3/31/15 at 11:30pm

It's only been 9 years, so it could happen.